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Monday, March 20, 2017

THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

1 - Get ready for the biggest week to hit Regina so far in 2017! The inaugural Marks CFL Week begins on Tuesday and will run through Sunday with dozens upon dozens of events for CFL fans to enjoy.

Then on Friday, the Regina Pats open the 2017 WHL Playoffs with mammoth expectations as they host the Calgary Hitmen in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. This week is going to be absolutely fantastic and you're going to have a front row seat right here.

2 - The week actually began on Sunday with a media tour of New Mosaic Stadium. I'll post all of the photos at the bottom of this notebook segment but suffice it to say, the Riders FAR exceeded our expectations. You don't have to take my word for it. When asked about the Riders' football operations facilities, newly-signed quarterback Vince Young gushed, "WOWWWWWWW!" when asked about it on 620 CKRM's SportsCage. Vince has seen every NFL stadium and I'm not exaggerating to say Saskatchewan actually tops them all.

3 - Rider President Craig Reynolds oversaw much of the new stadium details and design, and should truly take a bow. Sunday's tour reaffirmed my belief that Reynolds will knock it out-of-the-park when it comes to the onfield product too, with his hire of the triumvirate of Chris Jones, John Murphy and Jeremy O'Day. Rome wasn't built in a day, but this franchise will field a team that will match its jaw-dropping stadium.

4 - I'm going to steer clear of predictions when it comes to the Pats-Hitmen series, but I'll go out on a limb and say the Saskatchewan Roughriders will achieve 10 wins this in 2017. Where that will shake down in the standings remains to be seen.

5 - It will be great to renew acquaintances with all CFL types during Marks CFL Week, particularly new Argonauts Head Coach Marc Trestman. CKRM football analyst Luc Mullinder said he read a report that Trestman signed for $600,000 per season with Toronto, and that has several CFL players upset. Head Coaches' and GMs' salaries don't count towards the salary cap of course, but players feel they continue to get the raw end of the deal. None will go on record as saying as much however, but they'd like to let their feelings be known.

6 - When two CFL players are charged with drug trafficking in one calendar year, it should serve notice that perhaps player wages should be revisited once again. $52,000 as a rookie minimum is a pittance, but of course that's no excuse. There are plenty of good, honest people making far less than that who don't resort to illegal activity.

7 - In the case of the Riders' Jordan Reaves, it appears (from the outside) as a case of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Having gotten to know Jordan fairly well last year, the charge certainly seems out of character and he strongly maintains his innocence. The immediate question is whether or not Reaves should be allowed to play with the Roughriders this season but I don't see why not.

8 - The CFL was nice enough to forward Luc Mullinder's results from the 2004 Combine in Toronto. He, ahem, achieved 16 reps on the bench press and clocked a speedy 5.22 in the 40-yard dash. Mullinder didn't dispute his bench press numbers (saying he wasn't as serious about training back then) but thinks his 40-time is a misprint. That's roughly the same speed as a road grader.

9 - The food company Kraft is doing a great thing by once again by sponsoring the Kraft Hockeyville Challenge and offering $100,000 to a lucky Canadian community for sports facility improvements. Ituna, SK has made the final two communities and voting ends on Monday night. You can vote for Ituna here:

And when you're trying to decide which peanut butter to buy when you're standing in an aisle at your local grocery store, I encourage you to choose Kraft. I do.

10 - Playoff tickets - both singles and full playoff packages - are on sale now for the Regina Pats through their office at 522-PATS or website www.reginapats.com. Plenty of tickets remain, but I expect sellouts come Friday and Saturday for Games 1 and 2.

I bought four playoff ticket packages. and plan to do some contesting on this blog so stay tuned for that.

At the outset of the column I noted that expectations are mammoth for the Pats. They set a club record for wins at 52 along with a host of other individual and team records but that won't mean a thing if they don't go deep this spring.

That four game losing streak a few weeks ago came at a good time. It showed the team that they aren't infallible, and that they'll need to pay attention to details and play a full game each and every outing. Anything less will be fatal.

The atmosphere at Evraz Place this week is going to be electric, and it'll hit a crescendo by the weekend.

11 - Access TV is advertising their Pats playoff coverage on billboards all over town and I can guarantee we'll have at least Round 1 in its entirety on Channel 7 and in High Definition on Channel 70.

I'll be calling the home games but will step aside for the road contests due to sports dinners I'm appearing at March 30 (U of R Rams) and April 1 (Assiniboia with Tiger Williams).

Again, buckle up.

12 - The Pats have won eight games in a row entering the playoffs. Their opponents, the Calgary Hitmen, will be profiled on this website later in the week.

13 - The Prince George Cougars clinched the WHL's B.C. pennant which represents the first time in 23 years since relocating from Victoria that the club has won a banner. Who says ownership doesn't matter?NOW FOR THE PHOTOS OF NEW MOSAIC STADIUM!

The reception area for Football Operations ..

The Players' Entrance ..

Another players' entrance ..

The hallway connecting all meeting rooms ..

The countdown clock ticking down to each game ..

A meeting room which can house 120 bodies ..

The weightroom .. 7,000 square feet ..

The locker room is simply too large to fit into one photo! It is much, much bigger in person ..

The quarterbacks' stalls with Vince Young's locker room waiting for him ..

A barber shop for the players ..

Paying homage to legendary Rider therapist Ivan Gutfriend ..

Gordon Gilroy's equipment room ...

Rider Ass't GM Jeremy O'Day explains some of the amenities of the Players Lounge ..

For video of all the Rider facilities, check out my Snapchat account at: Pedersenmedia

Duron and Vince should be allowed the privilege to bring in their own reclining chairs with tv remote to that dressing room for personal comfort. They will be the go to guys 2017 as the Roughriders win 15 games while winning a GC title. Go Riders!

There's no doubt that this is a beautiful new stadium. But you just embarrass yourself when you constantly make homer statements like the following .... 'Vince has seen every NFL stadium and I'm not exaggerating to say Saskatchewan actually tops them all.'

Awesome photos Roddy. Can't wait for the start of the season. To add to this week, HOOPLA is also taking place in Regina starting on Thursday. This is the 1-5A Provincial Basketball Championships. Thanks for posting the RHSAA basketball playoff results last week as well. Nice addition to your daily lineup!!

"Triumvirate"- Had to look that one up. The team facilities have to help recruit players. Not that the CFL needs legitimized in my mind but for some of those players that have no idea what the CFL is, all they have to do is look at what the Saskatchewan Roughriders have to offer to help them make a decision to play here. -Scott

Cant wait to see how Vince looks at mini-camp. You are pretty liberal with your descriptions of past Rider players (calling Dan Rashovich former Riders great). Well in the case of Vince Young he is truly a Longhorn legend. Like Mack Brown tweeted, Vince knows how to win. Hope he really wants to play.

can't disagree that stadium is a beautiful beast! Just wish this city would put a little more thought into something for the kids and families to do especially in the long cold winter.like a waterpark mabe! But I guess we could put our bathing suits on grab some popcorn turn the defrost on full blast and go park in front that new stadium and gaze at its vast emptiness and beauty in the middle of January..or drive to that hot winter tourist destination of Yorkton..I hear they have a pretty cool waterpark. Cmon Regina

Thanks for the shout out Ituna for the Kraft Hockeyville Rod. That's my hometown and I've done my fair share of voting for them so far and I'll be doing more after work. I've been telling everyone I know to vote and vote often for them.

Thanks for yet another MMG. Thanks for sharing all those pix of this First Class Facility. I hope and pray you are right that the on field product quality will match the stadium Quality soon enough.. A 10 win season would be fantastic,but not sure if that is achievable as its only year 2 of the teardown and re build of the team.I will be there for at least 1 game this year.Thanks again for your year long outstanding coverage of the Riders and the CFL. Polkabill from the Peg.

A 10 win season is a little optimistic. Hopefully it will be better than last year but I really doubt they will hit 10. Still need to have a great QB and, so far, they don't really seem to be working too hard in that direction.

As for the new stadium, they certainly pulled out all the stops. Over the top does not quite cover it!